Comments on: Cooking Without a Kitchen

By: Billy Jones

Billy Jones — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:32:49 +0000

Well researched site – love the kitchen gadgets! – Will look to incorporate some of your ideas into my site. Thanks!

By: Rotisserie Chicken Rub Recipe

Rotisserie Chicken Rub Recipe — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:12:27 +0000

I love your blog. There is so much out there which is worthless, but this is a real gold mine of quality information. Many thanks from a grateful surfer – Beth Little.

By: Alicia Viviani

Alicia Viviani — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:31:31 +0000

P.S. A special thank you to Angela Turner for your generous gift. My husband and I cannot wait to read your cookbook!

By: Alicia Viviani

Alicia Viviani — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:28:11 +0000

Lisa…I knew you would have great suggestions for us, but you out-did yourself here. To everyone else, thank you, thank you. You have no idea how helpful your thoughts are. I obvioiusly have a microwave and slow cooker but the convection oven was sitting in a box in the garage until I spoke with Lisa and read these suggestions. I have blessed with family that live within blocks and have been ever-so generous and thoughtful, sending prepared meals over to the house and inviting us all over a oouple times a week.
By the end of the week, we should have the hardwood floors in but we are still weeks from being finished and we are in need of a diet remodel right about now. I am now excited to plan some new meals for the week and will be making the best of our time spent in our garage-kitchen. I promise to post pictures of our kitcen as soon as it’s done. Thanks again to everyone and Dave, I agree, sometimes a Jack-n-the box hamburger is the quickest, easiest and yummiest meal of all.
Alicia

By: dessessopsid

dessessopsid — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:11:37 +0000

I have a small butane gas burner. It is perfect for stuff like this, as well as portable. It works for grilling, boiling, most anything really…

Also – heartily endorse the slow cooker, particularly as you can also use them in lieu of a rice cooker.

By: lisa

lisa — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:52:48 +0000

Thanks everyone for all the great comments & ideas. Thanks, Angela for your generous offer. Paul, I might have to get that piece of scrap metal just because…And Fiona, we do have a prep-your-own meal thing here–”Deelish! Meals Made Easy” on El Camino in Menlo Park. I’ve never used it, so it didn’t occur to me, but it’s perfect for a situation like this.

By: foolery

foolery — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:42:40 +0000

The only thing I would add is to check out dreamdinners.com (this is not an ad; I have never used their services). From what I understand you can prep a week’s worth (or more?) of meals in their kitchens, using their fresh food, then take it home and freeze it, ready for the oven. If you select from their recipes only things that would work in a toaster oven, OR if you had an arrangement with a friend to use her oven once in a while, it might help get you through. No prep in your limited space, and throw-away pans!

Best of luck,

Laurie @ Foolery

By: Fiona

Fiona — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:41:48 +0000

Electric frying pan can be a saviour if you don’t have a kitchen. Rice Cookers are also wonderful for steaming food besides rice and supplements your microwave. As many have mentioned, grills are great for cooking everything from pizza and bread, and even stir fry if you have a basket. You can’t really do slow cooked food all the time. And there isn’t anything wrong with raw food either.

By: Angela Tunner a.k.a. The Renaissance Gourmet

Angela Tunner a.k.a. The Renaissance Gourmet — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:43:58 +0000

Well, this is certainly a difficult situation but not impossible. Having your small appliances like the convection toaster oven and microwave, there is a lot you can do. If you need extra table space, some TV trays work nicely as additional counter space. There are a tremendous number of things that are at the supermarket that are already prepared that can save you prep and cooking time. These items are not processed rather pre-cooked fresh food that can be transformed into lightening fast meals. Keep the meals simple and focused on flavour. Use those small appliances to best use: microwave is for wet cooking; toaster oven for dry, roasting and baking. Microwave: steaming vegetables, cooking pasta, risotto, poaching fruit, Toaster ovens: roasting chicken breasts, fish, baking pies, brownies, small batches of cookies. Supermarket helpers: rotisserie chickens, bakery cake like angel food and pound cake, gnocchi, bagged salads, fresh baked bread, smoked ham. The options are limitless to make fast, low-prep fresh meals even without a kitchen.

As a gift, to help Alicia and Michael and their kids through this stressful time, I would love to give you a copy of my award winning cookbook eBook, winner for Best Easy Recipes; perfect for this situation because all the recipes use a toaster oven, microwave and blender to prepare. These are goof-proof to make and taste amazing! My husband and four-year old love these recipes and are family favourites!

Best of luck with the renovation and here’s to some great meals in your make-shift kitchen now and after your kitchen space is restored.

Love,
Angela
aka The Renaissance Gourmet

By: John

John — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:21:33 +0000

Gas grill was a great asset when we moved in and had a bit of kitchen work to do.Paul’s idea is a great one. Also think of simplifying the meals to protien and grilled or Al dente veggies and fresh fruit. Americans tend to overeat anyway and limiting your cooking and takeout options can actually be a healthy thing. Just ask the raw foodies!